The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has been informed that several independent candidates will be among political representatives to be nominated today for the February 25 general election.
The nomination of candidates will get underway at 10 o'clock.
“We have a few independent candidates who have indicated their intention to contest but that doesn’t prevent anyone from turning up during the prescribed time to pay the three thousand dollar nomination fee,” said Director of Elections, Orrette Fisher.
He said he is satisfied that adequate preparations have been made for the nomination of candidates for the 63 constituencies.
“Everything is in place - the returning officers have met with all the candidates in all the locations and they would have been assigned times to get to the polling stations in order to avoid any clashes and so on.
The two main political parties say they expect the nomination of their representatives to proceed smoothly.
“All the candidates would have met with their respective electoral officers ….all the arrangements have been in place,” said People's National Party Deputy General Secretary, Julian Robinson.
The opposition Jamaica Labour Party’s Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Andrew Wheatley also said he expects the process to be a smooth one.
Bloomfield to be nominated
Meanwhile, the PNP says its representative for Portland Eastern, Dr. Lynvale Bloomfield, will be nominated amid reports that he owes millions of dollars in tax arrears.
The Party's General Secretary, Paul Burke, says there is nothing to prevent him from being placed on the PNP's list of candidates.
“We are satisfied, based on the documents that he has provided us, that he is fully compliant with all his tax payments…” Burke said.
NDM to field candidates
The National Democratic Movement (NDM) has signaled that it will be fielding fewer candidates than it initially planned due to the inability to secure adequate campaign funds.
NDM Chairman Michael Williams says the party will have under a dozen candidates contesting the polls.
“The NDM, had an ambitious target of nominating approximately 35 candidates - but funds have not materialized in the way that we needed them to materialize to put on a healthy campaign leading up to the general election. So we will now be nominating approximately 10 candidates right across the country.”
He said some candidates will be in the Corporate Area, St. Catherine, Trelawny and St. Ann, adding that a full breakdown of the candidates will be revealed on Tuesday.
Political Ombudsman, Donna Parchment Brown, has sought to soothe tempers in a section of Portmore, St Catherine.
She convened a meeting on Monday in Newlands, where a murder took place - which many speculated was politically motivated.
The meeting also involved political representatives, members of the Peace Management Initiative and the Portmore Minister's Fraternal.
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